What’s the big deal?

According to the Pacific Coast League, Major League Rule 2(c)(2)(b) stipulates the active roster limit for Triple-A teams is 25 players. The Albuquerque Isotopes had 26 players active during their 7-6 win over the El Paso Chihuahuas on July 9.

An embarrassing oversight forced the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, to forfeit a recent win over the El Paso Chihuahuas.

The reason for the forfeit is simple. Identifying who’s responsible is not.

On Tuesday, the Pacific Coast League ruled that the Isotopes had one player too many on their active roster during their July 9 win over El Paso.

“The violation occurred as a result of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Isotopes’ major league affiliate, activating an Albuquerque player from the disabled list without making a corresponding transaction to remove a player from the Triple-A club’s active list, which was already at the 25-player limit,” notes a statement from the PCL.

Though the statement didn’t specify which player was improperly activated, it isn’t hard to figure out how El Paso was tipped off.

On July 8, Albuquerque issued a press release saying that outfielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez had been placed on the disabled list when Joc Pederson was activated from the DL. Less than an hour later, a second release was issued with no mention of Cavazos-Galvez or any other player being removed from the Isotopes’ active roster.

The second release was not a mistake.

“We weren’t aware that any player active in that game had been placed on the disabled list the day before,” said Branch Rickey, the PCL commissioner.

Both Cavazos-Galvez and Pederson played in the game, which was suspended a day due to rain over Isotopes Park. Cavazos-Galvez entered in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Isotopes trailing 6-4. He hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game, 7-6.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti deferred comment to De Jon Watson, the Dodgers’ assistant vice president of player development. Watson blamed the forfeit on an “administrative issue.” Specifically?

“(Damon) Berryhill had a name on his card that he wasn’t supposed to have,” he said, referring to the Isotopes’ manager.

But the PCL blamed the Dodgers and not Berryhill, who certainly knew that both Pederson and Cavazos-Galvez couldn’t play in the same game unless another player was first removed from the active roster. Rickey said that no players were deactivated before the game.

“We were not aware of any particular player, other than the suspended player, who was otherwise inconvenienced,” Rickey said.

The suspended player is Isotopes pitcher Carlos Frias, who received a 10-game ban on July 2 for having a foreign substance on his arm during a game. Just like the major leagues, a player who is suspended by the PCL counts against his team’s active roster.

Advertisement

Did the confusion have anything to do with Frias’ status?

“No, not really,” Watson said.

According to the PCL, even though the final score will now be listed as a 9-0 El Paso win, individual and team statistics from the game will count in the official records.

That means Pederson — one of the Dodgers’ top prospects — can keep the double and triple he hit. Dodgers pitching prospect Zach Lee is credited with throwing six innings in which he allowed two runs and struck out five batters.

The forfeit might have little bearing on the PCL postseason. At 48-50, El Paso is eight games out of first place in the Pacific Southern division. Albuquerque (44-54) is 12 games out of first place.

Rickey is the grandson of former Dodgers president and general manager Branch Rickey.